Ron Mercer scored 23 points and the Boston Celtics used a
second-half spurt to rally for an 82-76 win over the
cold-shooting New Jersey Nets, who lost for the third time in
four games.

After shooting just 33 percent (13-for-39) from the field and
scoring 29 points in the first half, Boston outscored New Jersey
33-13 in a run that carried over early into the fourth quarter.

Antoine Walker added 22 points and 10 rebounds and Dana Barros
14 points and seven assists for Boston, which won for the first
time in six March road games.

The Nets shot just 5-for-18 from the field in the fourth quarter
and 34 percent (29-for-85) for the game, including 0-for-5 from
three-point range. The Nets, who committed a season-high 25
turnovers which Boston converted into 28 points, lost for the
11th time in their last 14 games.

"We played spectacular defense. We didn't play particularly
great offense but our defense was outstanding," Boston coach
Rick Pitino said. "They are tough to play against because of
Jayson Williams and his offensive rebounding. We didn't trap
unless we could, then we would press to five seconds on the shot
clock, which would make them take a bad shot. This is the most
intelligently played basketball game we've played all year."

The defeat proved costly for the Nets, who lost Jayson Williams
for the remainder of the regular season with a broken right
thumb. He suffered the injury in the fourth quarter while going
after a rebound, hitting the thumb on Walker's elbow. He had the
thumb taped and returned for three minutes, but left the game
for good with 4:34 remaining.

Williams had a cast placed on the thumb at the Hackensack
Medical Center after x-rays were taken. He is scheduled to see
a hand specialist, Dr. Charles Melone, on Monday.

New Jersey, Washington and Orlando all have identical 36-35 records
and are tied for the eighth playoff slot in the Eastern Conference.

Sam Cassell had 29 points and Williams 11 points and 15 rebounds
for New Jersey, which had won five of its previous six games
against the Celtics.

"I've been asking myself when is the last time we've really
played a bad game. I don't mean lost a game, I mean really
played bad," New Jersey coach John Calipari said. "I think it
was against Washington about two months ago, so I think we were
due for this one. I guess they wanted it more than we did. Our
team has a lot of fight in it, but we didn't play hard in this
game."

Trailing 42-29 entering the second half, Boston reeled off a
21-6 run over the first eight minutes of the third quarter to
move ahead 50-48. Walker contributed 12 points to the run,
capping it with a layup.

"We played well in the second half," Walker said. "Everybody
got together, we moved the ball around and we led our defense
play for us. We got some open baskets and that's when we're at
our best. We showed tonight what good defense can do for you
even when the offense isn't there."

An 18-foot jumper by Sherman Douglas with five seconds left in
the quarter pulled New Jersey into a 55-55 tie.

Boston opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 burst to regain the
lead for good. Barros had the first five of those points with
two free throws and a three-pointer, and Mercer's jumper at the
the 9:16 mark made it 62-55 Celtics.

With 4:25 remaining Mercer turned a steal into a fast-break
dunk, giving Boston a 69-60 advantage.

New Jersey reduced Boston's lead to 76-71 with 57 seconds left
after Cassell connected on a jumper, and 23 seconds later, Kerry
Kittles drove the lane for a basket to make it 76-73. But the
Celtics put the game away by outscoring the Nets 6-3 down the
stretch, with Walter McCarty hitting a pair of free throws and
Barros adding two free throws, a steal and a layup.

"This was the first game as a group that we've played badly in
this whole month," Cassell said. "They controlled the momentum
tonight. I thought we were going to play well but we picked a
bad time not to. We had the game in the first half but they
just hung around and took it in the end."